Alameda-based Coast Guard crew seizes cocaine

ALAMEDA, Calif. 
An Alameda-based Coast Guard crew has seized more than 4,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehended four suspects from a boat in international waters off the coast of Panama.

The Coast Guard says an airborne crew first spotted the speeding boat in the early morning of July 24. But as the Cutter Morgenthau attempted to intercept it, the vessel's crew started throwing bales of suspected contraband overboard.

The Guard's onboard helicopter pursued the boat and ultimately disabled it by firing a precision rifle at the vessel's engine. Then crews took the suspects into custody and confiscated the floating bales, which later tested positive for cocaine.

The boat was caught during an ongoing counter-narcotics patrol in the Pacific Ocean.